Madeleine McCann's parents relieved as Portuguese cop axes controversial new book on case.

Goncalo Amaral, who made vile claims about Maddie's ­disappearance in his 2008 book The Truth of the Lie, was said to have been planning a follow-up.

The parents of Madeleine McCann have been told the policeman who made vile claims about her ­disappearance has shelved plans for a second book.

Goncalo Amaral, who led the hunt in the Algarve when Maddie vanished aged three a decade ago, was said to have been planning a new book on the case.

The Portuguese ex-detective’s 2008 book – The Truth of the Lie – claimed the McCanns faked an abduction. It was never released in the UK and sparked a legal battle between the former officer and Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry.

Amaral, 57, was planning a controversial follow-up but the Sunday Mirror can reveal the project has been axed.

His publisher and friend Manuel Fonseca – head of Guerra e Paz Editores, the firm which published Amaral’s first book – told us: “There is no book. It doesn’t exist, even as a draft. It may be he would like to work on a book some time, but for the moment that book doesn’t exist.”

A McCann source said: “It will be a huge relief for Kate and Gerry.”

Sources said the proposed book was to focus on Operation Grange, the £10million Metropolitan police probe into Madeleine’s disapperance. Amaral’s first book was published three days after Portuguese authorities closed the inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance in 2008 and cleared Kate and Gerry of any wrongdoing.

The pair said Amaral’s book sparked a “massive tidal wave of lies” against them and last week they lost a third and final appeal to silence him in Portugal’s Supreme Court. They could now face a six-figure legal bill. Kate and Gerry, both 48, of Rothley, Leics, had sued Amaral over his book and he was ordered to pay them £360,000 in damages in 2015. .

This week a senior detective who carried out a three-year private probe revealed he believes an abductor will have confessed to a friend or relative. Retired Detective Inspector Dave Edgar said: “If anyone confided in you, now is the time to come forward.” He believes Maddie, who would now be 13, may still be alive.